Book Review: Ingo by Helen Dunmore

Sapphire's father mysteriously vanishes into the waves off the Cornwall coast where her family has always lived. She misses him terribly, and she longs to hear his spellbinding tales about the Mer, who live in the underwater kingdom of Ingo. Perhaps that is why she imagines herself being pulled like a magnet toward the sea. But when her brother, Conor, starts disappearing for hours on end, Sapphy starts to believe she might not be the only one who hears the call of the ocean.

WARNING: Spoiler Alert!!

Ingowas a pleasant read that I happened to find out about while browsing for books to read. The protagonist, Sapphy, was a bit childish and stubborn, but overall she had a nice voice (she was narrating). The story never revealed her age, as far as I could tell, which irritated me. Her brother was sensible enough - the bond between the siblings seemed really strong. There were many instances in which Sapphy exited Ingo and came out into the Air because of her brother (slight spoiler there). Their mother was totally clueless, but meant well, and their father, of course, was apparently awesome, although there wasn't much of him due to his disappearance.

The boundaries and rules of the worlds of Ingo and Air were extremely well defined - kudos to Helen Dunmore because it's easy to forget that your reader doesn't know and leave them in the dark. I found the Mer premise refreshing after the hackneyed use of other *ahem dragons fairies elves ahem cough cough* mythical creatures. Both siblings had a Mer guide in the depths of Ingo. Conor's guide was a female named Elvira, and Sapphy's was a male named Conor. I was surprised that Dunmore didn't make it a romance between the two couples; she did a very nice job keeping it juvenile.

Overall, I would rate the book maybe 3.75-ish stars out of 5. It's okay, but not the greatest thing I've ever read. The plot wasn't boring but not unpredictable, and the characters were all right, but not the best.